


The Stars Aren’t The Only Ones

by WolfRain



Category: RWBY
Genre: Also I really love the star symbolism on it connecting people, Bumbleby - Freeform, F/F, I feel it was needed and wanted to write my own version, It's the bee's having a first real connection since Blake came back, Post-Volume 5 (RWBY), Pre-Volume 6 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 23:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18108308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfRain/pseuds/WolfRain
Summary: Whenever our life gets rough - look up and remember the stars; for they mean you're never truly alone.





	1. These Guiding Lights …

**Author's Note:**

> This one is dedicated to Sky and Snow. They're incredible friends to me and each other. Their love for the connection to stars and each other truly has no bounds.

Yang woke up with a start. She was in her bed, still in Mistral. Which had recently become a lot less lonely compared to the night before, with Weiss having to make a full recovery along with Ruby, Yang became the only one who had a spare bed in her room. Which left her arrived partner, after half a year apart, back to sharing a room once more, together.

Now, in the middle of the night, Yang lies awake from nightmares once again. All because of one name. One person.

Ugh, Yang groaned inwardly from annoyed disgust.

 

She was awake from the nightmares that always came, every night. Her mind always repeating the same scene with the same cruel conclusion. Unfortunately, once she was awake it took a while for her to be capable of not thinking about it and fall back asleep. These had recently become less than, the past few days but …

She needed to think about something else.

Behind her was a cracked-open window, filtering in the moonlight. It brought in the sounds of rustling leaves and swaying tree branches from the large tree nearby. The smell of the not far off Mistral ocean's salt mist.

It was dark for her trained eyes, but thanks to the moonlight, she could still see what was around. Yang was on the bed with a quilt-red comforter and her partner was nearby, seemingly peaceful and most importantly, not in danger.

Feeling comforted by this a little, Yang moved to the foot of her bed with a pillow at hand and laid back down. Lifting both arms under herself and propping up her head, she looked at the night sky from the open window. With safety, peace and quiet, she tried to think of other things.

With the pain they’ve all endured, the stories seeming more and more real... It seemed a lot more than a basic coincidence to Yang that they got jammed into the center of everything. Raven, her mother, only made this feeling seem more concrete. The things her mother spoke about couldn’t go ignored. It didn’t seem like a coincidence, either, that her entire team was back together after The Fall of their previous school. It was almost like they had a destiny to always come back to each other, to find one another.

This is how it would've always been; all four of us, together. Not loosing each other, having to heal...

Regardless of fate, magic, relics and a reunited team, it felt like the rift was still present for Yang. Even with her partner coming back to her- her team, Yang felt conflicted about if she meant it.

Did she... did she want to stay for herself, for Yang, out of loyalty, or regret or pity or... something... something else?

Yang stopped her minds tracks. She knew her partner might not care as much about her as Yang did for her - but she came back and... that's what matters. That at the very least, her partner cared enough to stick with the team again, for now. Maybe it would stay that way, for a little while.

yeah, even just for a little while - to have her partner next to her is all that mattered to Yang for tonight.

Silent and quiet, though, the emotional turmoil still loomed around Yang. The feeling might as well have followed her like an unwanted shadow. Many shadows, if she was honest — and one of them would have cute ears on top and that warm look in her burning, glowing amber eyes.

**_Stop._ **

Yang shut her eyes.

 

_**Inhale…** _

 

_**… Exhale.** _

 

Lately, Yang’s been showing all her emotions in front of those she wouldn’t want to know about them; all except in front of the girl who titles her as strength.

 

It takes strength, bravery even, being so raw, honest and vulnerable to those you love and care about the most. The ones who look up to you. To cry, scared, be angry.

Yang contemplated the growth of feeling lost, hurt with the reminder of that one night, yet she also felt a little better. More herself again, seeing her partner back. It almost felt like how it used to be when Team RWBY would sleep at night.

 

Almost.

 

Yang made herself stop looking out at the night sky. While the stars and moonlight filtering from the large tree from her window were nice, the inky darkness was making her mind wander to her partner. So, she moved to lay her head back down and turned it to the right, about to try to rest, only to stare at what she was attempting to avoid.

From a separate bed, Black hair cascaded and rippled at a downward angle - past Blake’s neck as her ear-tipped head slept and silky shiny hair flowed off her white pillow.

The noirette, like Yang, wouldn’t normally be big on the constraints of a quilted red comforter, but she seemed to have changed since Beacon, like the rest of team RWBY. Instead, Blake had the warm red thick blanket pulled up all the way to her shoulders, nearly engulfing her entire form, eventually needing its warmth.

 

Blake’s personality had become more confusing and yet more open, vocal. She was different. It was a good different. Sort of. Yang was still kind of in the adjustment period.

It had only been less than 12 hours since she’s had her partner back after all. That and having about 6 months of no contact might leave you a little lost and with the changes.

The group collectively put it to a vote and it was equally agreed that sleep was needed and deserved after the night they’ve been through before they filled Blake in on all the missing details.

With all this emotional processing, Yang was starting to have an idea why it was hard to deal with this new change of her ... environment.

_When she’d seen Blake approach the team, to Ruby - she saw in her old partners' eyes the regret. The hesitance. That feeling of being an outcast. All her choices were always right in front of her, even with Ruby and Weiss opened themselves to her, saying “what matters is that we’re all here together."_

 

_Only one person was missing from uniting that link The Fall had started severing._

_They had all noticed the one person who would've spoken first about this, uniting the team -Yang, wasn’t responding._

 

_Yang had looked down, upsetting thoughts roaming through her mind after the statement. The uncertainty of being hurt, but not wanting to stay this way muddling up her quickness to reply._

_Not hearing_ a response _as quickly as she was hoping for, Ruby looked at her forlornly quiet older sister. “Right?”_

_Yang, still uncertain, looked up at Ruby with her nervous, guilty expression._

 

_Yang then turned her attention to the point of interest. Yang covered her face in guarded, questioning expression. She wanted to read her partner - to understand. To make sure that by saying ‘ok’ was by her standard - Blake had to know this wasn’t okay, to go around running away like this… that it affected her._

 

_Did she want to risk that pain again?_

 

_She read her partner, all right._

_Yang's partners' smile & eyes dropped. she looked down to the side when she, too, noticed the silence. Yang avoiding looking at Blake until directly asked, but it seemed no words really needed to be said._

 

_They both understood so many things with and without looking at each other as if they hadn't been separated and traumatized for half a year. Their partnership connection easily of reading one-another was as painfully fresh as ever._

 

_Yang bared herself all the emotions that Blake could see, which naturally brought Blake guilt. ‘I’m disappointed, Confused, and Angry. How could you? Do you even want to be here? Can I trust you? Should I?'_

_‘I’m sorry,’ her partner's body language seemed to whisper out, avoiding eye contact and still very focused on the floor as Yang securitized who was truly in front of her now. ‘I made a choice I'm not proud of.'_

 

_Yet there she stood, wanting the answer to a pestering question. One she had assumed that the inevitable answer would be of rejection or some painful remark she had wrought upon herself from a selfish-one-sided decision._

_Her doubtful gaze seemed to ask her own personal question to Yang. ‘Is it even possible you’d want me to come back? Do you even want me as your partner, after everything? Could I be allowed to show you I care?’_

 

_Yang stared as Blake had turned her head down, seeing what her partner deemed to be preparing for. The rejection. The possible onslaught of, 'you left, you don't deserve me, out of all of us, to expect me to forgive you.'_

_She had told Sun she wanted them to hate her, right? Perhaps she was about to get her_ wish _; however, as much she wanted to take that back now, it was too late to go change things._

 

 

_And yet there she stood, unmoving and waiting as the seconds passed them by in silence._

_Yang looked on at her in anger and within seconds, it all but dissipated._

_Her walls Yang shoved up were crumbling at the seams._

_Yang was judging her partner while her team wanted this. Her partner seemed like she wanted this, Yang certainly had cried about wanting this not long ago. Now stood that wanting opportunity to be able to help her partner and, -Gods willing- her partner wanting to help heal her as well, in the ways Yang has been needing the most._

_She was here, alive, asking and wanting to stay If they’d have her. If Yang would have her - and everyone was waiting for Yang to give the ok. She had the final say and the air hung thick on the answer._

_Was everyone, Even her partner finally being here, even if how deep Yang was willing to go...was her return all that mattered?_

_Within those short seconds, Yang's face went from tense, judging, observing, questioning - too soft, relieved, happy, a little uncertain but... happy._

 

_Yang let her in with a single word. “Yeah.”_

_Yeah - that’s all that matters._

_Her voice was calm and happy, encouraging. the undertone of relief to be allowed this. Yang’s frown lifting to a gentle, happy smile as the one-worded answer left her mouth. Nodding slightly in approval, her eyes once again saying more than she could._

_‘You should know that having you back is the only thing that has mattered. It’s all I’ve been wanting the most - what we’ve all wanted. For me… almost more than anything else.’_

_Her eyes twinkling, and her face broke out in the biggest, relieved, rare-to-see smile - which might be the biggest one that Yang has ever seen - as she rushed toward the team.It was as if her partners' eyes were crying out in silent joy at her own partner, Yang, wanted her back._

_She had joined them all on their knees - Yang grasping her, Blake holding her right back, as they were finally reunited, arms on each other’s shoulders, causing Yang to bend her head down with her. Both heads touching, yang allowed herself a small smile to dawn her face - both now equally smiling as they were finally... finally reunited._

_Yang luckily got Blake on her best side, being able to hug Blake with her still useable, attached flesh arm on her left as the team group-hugged on the floor._

_When they lifted their heads, Blake kept her right hand on Yang’s arm, looking at Yang as if she was the one thing she had needed all this time, and it was finally being brought back in her life. Like her guiding light had found her once more and was lit back into her night sky so she might be allowed to gaze upon it once more and find her way in the dark if she got lost again._

_Scratch that._

_Yang wasn’t a star in the night to Blake. It felt more like her whole world was crushing itself back together second by the second, fragment by fragment, and then warmed by her own personal comforting, burning sun; disintegrated all the built-up worries and loneliness into this thin atmosphere with her unwavering gaze._

_Yang was looking at her right back. Their eyes were solely interested in each other. Eyes so focused, it was as if by gazing at one-another for each second that had been -in Yang’s case especially - torn away from them, things would start to stitch back together._

_the voiceless communication was like trees and fresh spring grass to a newborn dusty planet. Replacing the dead, scorched earth that, burned from the minutes, hours, days and nights spent separated in agony, pain, self-loathing and regrets._

_Even if she wasn't sure that her partner would keep good on her promise, looking into her eyes, and that smile, might be all the convincing she might need._

_It was the beginning of healing, rebuilding and forgiveness that, really, how could Yang had ever fathomed the idea of rejecting something like this?_

_\-- It was because the pain was still present. Things still left unasked, unsaid -_

 

Yang blinked herself back to the shared room she was in.

Right now, Yang reminded herself, what she needs was to have her partner back. That alone had erased a nice part of her pain, brought her to being less hot-headed, angry, and depressed.

After all, with what they’ve been through, the idea of any apologies that Yang might’ve gotten from her, and with a reception of how Yang felt towards her, got brushed away as soon as possible.

She didn’t feel useless anymore, or worthless. Blake’s presence alone seemed to have stitched all these invisible wounds back together. It would have been enough. She could make do with this right now. She’s made do with being left, but the person wanting to come back was new.

Yang hadn’t realized she’d been staring at said partner while she was lost in thought while she was thinking about her until Blake’s ear flicked again; directing Yang’s eyes to their sudden movement.

 

 _Oh?_ Apparently, her ears moved while she was asleep.

 

Yang covered her mouth and tried to hold in her completely inappropriate cooing at her downright fierce partner who had shown and earned the right to be seen as her equal regardless of heritage, but gosh darn it. Yang closed her eyes while her hand covered her small, adored grin.  _That was way too cute._

After a moment, putting her hand down next to her, Yang shook her head with a small smile and attempted to re-gather her focus. Hoping she doesn't wake her, Yang lifted herself up to a sitting position. the bed barely creaked from the shifts of weight, but just to be sure...Yang flicked her lavender eyes to her partner once more and noticed that her partners' ears had angled to the slight noise coming from her direction in a nanosecond. They were still and unmoving. Focused. Observing. Waiting. Listening.

Yang’s eyes widened as she stopped all movement and breathing. Stock still in a slightly uncomfortable, half-getting-up position.

 

After a moment, the ears flicked and went back to their relaxed forward place. Her black-haired partner breathing slow and even as her sides rose and fell. All signs of Blake being peacefully asleep.

Hopefully.

Yang continued to get up, not needing to lift a blanket - she never needed to sleep underneath a blanket even back at Beacon. She was always warm enough.

But, knowing she’d go back to sleep eventually, she grabbed her brown huntress bomber jacket and slipped both arms in it carefully. It was comfy atop her orange tank top. She slipped into her brown leather, golden heel-toe tipped boots and kept on her sleep-wear kakis that had a patch on either leg. She walked carefully and light-footed to the door.

Once she made it to her exit, gently gripping and turning the circular golden knob with her left hand, Yang exited into the empty dark hall. she almost closed the door but at the last second decided to leave it open a crack. You know, to prevent making any more noticeable noise that might wake her partner.

Yang took a last glance through the crack and made sure her movement didn't disturb her. Seeing no disturbance, she turned away from the door and began to move through the hallway to get outside. Exiting into the dull hallway, she walked down the first flight of stairs. She tried to be quiet, but as she walked on the wooden floor her boots made slight stomping metal noises, anyway.

She went down the stairway to the ground floor, made a left, and walked down the last wooden steps that led into the sparring room.

That's when Yang began to a feeling as disturbance of being watched. Yang must have imagined the creaking floorboard behind her, but the sound made a knee-jerk reaction to snap her head behind her, anyway.

Trapped at the bottom of a stairway would be a problem, except her possible enemy must have no clue that the last floor had nothing but swords at her disposal - and that she had was literally 'armed'.

Standing dead-still, Yang surveyed her eyes upwards, with no one in sight. No more sounds occurred; no footsteps. It seems it was only the house being a house. Some enemy a creaking floorboard would be.

She breathed a silent breath of relief out her mouth, her shoulders easing up from the brief tension, and finished her descent.

Yang strolled across the indoor weapon training area they'd ben using now and then. She pulled at the sliding door that leads to the dusty backyard, opening it to the night, noting the purple mountain ranges and trees littered around the outside of the house.

 

She closed the sliding door behind herself, effectively cutting off the dim house light, and allowing her to embrace the night sky. The moon was still “full” for lack of a better term. The clouds glowed white as they floated around it. The stars shone in dull golds and bright whites. The scattered dots all but glittering the dark navy black sky, piece by piece put together, illuminating it as the final touches to the picturesque night. It brought her some remission from the turmoil normally caused by her thoughts as the gentle nights' breeze blow softly over her face.

Yang invited the easy silence. After taking a moment to appreciate the night, she walked to the wooden railing at the edge of the training clearing. Looking out, she saw the mountain ranges, the houses, the Mistral shops, and the waterfalls in the distance. She was barely able to hear the roll and crashing of the rushing water from this distance. Yang began thinking that if one was to try to rush after the water, thinking it didn’t drop off a cliff, they’d perish.

In fact, it might as well be comparable to wanting to chase after her partner, where, if she tried to grab the rushing torrents to try to stop it's running, cascading flow, it would be completely pointless.

The water didn’t stop because she wanted to will it so - she’d have to change the environment, build things around it to slow the rushing river down. You can’t control something, but you can change how it responds, give it the option to follow a different path. Perhaps that’s what she needed to do for her partner, instead of judging her and feeling hurt.

Letting her mind wander instead of trying to keep the feelings under a lock and key was like allowing herself to release any leftover pain, now knowing she wasn’t exactly abandoned or alone without her partner anymore. She put a hand in her hair and moved it over her shoulder, petting it to try to calm her thoughts before they wandered too far, the soft motions soothing her. Grounding her. Bringing her back to figure out all these confusing things that continued to bother her. 

Even if she accepted all these conflicts that have been thrown at her, Yang thought, accepting was different from dealing with them. Understanding and dealing with them together possessed a quality that she wanted to grasp. She might feel a real semblance of being at ease again if she could.

She replayed the details of that night. The constant nightmares, the flashes, how it feels like torture to remember – one minute she was furious, scared, and the next a burn sliced her arm so painful it had engulfed her entire being, short-circuiting her mind to the point that she wasn’t even awake when she’d crashed hard on to floor. Leaving her blacked out to her surroundings, vulnerable to attack now, to death.

 _What a big help I was_ , she thought bitterly.

 

Her hand began to quiver, the stress bubbling back, trying to remind her in her awakened moments of that night. The pain, the unadulterated fear she had for her partner's life, and anger that someone would dare harm her like that was enough to throw herself into the dangerous fires.

 

She closed her eyes and placed a firm grip over her hand and breathed in, breathed out. _I’m okay._

 _Breath in, open eyes, breath out. Everything’s okay,_ she told herself, shakily. Within a few more seconds of this, her hand steadied.

Okay, ** _fine._** She needed to talk about this. With all the new things being brought forward, along with her haunting memories of that night, is something she wants to try to get a grip on by herself. Yet, no matter how many times she tries to push it behind her and look forward, all the stressful thoughts found ways of coming right back to the present.

Yang didn’t want to start talking about what’s been burdening her. Not now, not while she was about to start to hopefully mending things with Blake and mending the team back together.

 

No. She’s been strong enough to handle it on her own this far, she can find her own way like she always has been. Until the time was better, and she’d gotten some sleep and/or coffee in; especially some coffee.

She tilted her head to gaze back up at the stars. Ruby and she would go to Summer’s grave to talk things out: worries, fears, all the changes they were going through. What Yang did remember from when she was little was Summer telling her the different bedtime stories. One of them had the teachings of wishing on a star. She’d done that a lot, but they didn’t always come true. She wished to a star that Yang had imagined was Summer and that it watched over her and Ruby. Every time she would see it in the sky and made a wish on it, it always came true, one way or another. 

Yang would wish on stars with Summer when she was little, and when that star showed up after her disappearance, she felt this attraction to it. Call it transference or a magnetic connection from her gut, she couldn’t ignore the weird connection to her then-adoptive mother and this new burning star she saw in the sky. It helped her through the hardships and she was able to feel less alone. 

Scanning the night sky now, Yang hoped she would find it, even though it had been years since she felt a need to make a wish. It was special from the rest, and always connected to a certain constellation in the sky.

She gasped.

Spotting it, Yang felt a tug in her chest to make sure this wish came true. It felt as if this was the one shot she had to put her feelings and wishes out into the universe and put her feet more forward in her life. Scanning the inky black navy-blue sky glittered with the pale glowing moon and shining stars, she felt the safety of being watched over.

“Hey Summer … I know I’m far away from where we used to talk, but I don’t think I can wait until I’m back home.”

“There’s this girl. She’s my partner and probably my best friend. Things happened back at Beacon – I’m sure Ruby would’ve told you all about it.

 

“When I left home after I got my new arm, I ended up learning about so many things. One of them was about the Relics, Maidens, and this person if you can even call her that, named Salem. I learned about all this from my Mom. Raven. I found her and she’s what you would have expected and not expected with the things I heard about her while I was traveling to Mistral.”

“When I found Ruby with her help, we all went to talk to the school headmaster here, but a battle broke out. Cinder, Vernal, and Raven left to get the relic for themselves. I went to protect the relic, but something happened. My partner came back. I thought it was what I wanted, and it is, but even after having her back I still feel this… hole. An emptiness. It burns…”

 

“I hate it.”

 

“I just– I wish that these nightmares would stop haunting me! I wish that I and my partner could have been able to heal from the moment I saw her and move on past all this because, to be honest, I’ve had months of being angry, sad, and I am sick and tired of carrying all this around. Just seeing her made me feel so much better, but..."

“What I really want to wish for is to have … to have my best- best friend back.” Closing her eyes, Yang silently breathed in a stream of air through her mouth and back out, thinking she was ok, but then tightened her eyes when she felt the water build up out of nowhere, causing a few tears to drop down her cheeks.

 

**_Dammit._ **

 

Yang breathed in again and leaned forward on the wooden railing. She lowers her head and held on tightly to the railing with both hands, working through the emotions she felt as they rolled and crashed inside her.

Opening her eyes after a while, only a few tears drop out of her eyes on the dusty floor she looked down to. It caused her eyes to burn a bit and create a blurry sort of sparkle on her eyelashes around her vision. Yang brushed the moisture off both sides of her face with her hand and breathed out, lifting her head again to face the sky, sniffing in a bit.

The wind blew gently at her, making her golden wavy mane blown to one side while ruffling her bangs that were above her eyebrows, comforting her again. Lowering her chin to rest on her flesh left arm and let the metallic right arm dangle a bit over the rail. Yang decided to surrender to the scenery, letting it try to bring her back to a calm mind and even breathing. She decided to try to let her fears go to the heavens above for tonight and hoped things would be better by morning.

\----

 

She wasn’t sure how long she must’ve been out here, but the comforting blanket of silence from the night got interrupted when a new sound reached Yang’s ears.

**_Whoosh-click!_ **

Yang swore under her breath and felt she should’ve been prone to whiplash by now when she sharply snapped her neck then her body to look at the sound behind her. This caused a sharp increase in her heart rate, pupils dilating, and her eyes to flare red from her adrenaline flowing. She ready for anything; even her source of her nightmares.

The sliding door revealed a bit of light, casting down upon the dusted ground and became lightly faded as it flowed down to Yang’s distance, casting her in its faintly yellowish glow, mildly blinding as she had her attention directed at whoever had arrived, be covered in the lights new glow.

 

Was it her nightmares finally coming to her waking reality?

 

As she wondered if she should’ve been surprised at who she saw or be annoyed at her own lack of instinct that she was indeed being watched earlier, the figure closed the sliding door and stepped out, effectively erasing the dim house lighting and becoming more visible.

 

 _Nope_ , Yang thought, but it was close enough.

 

Yang lowered her hand that was shielding her eyes, letting them re-adjust to the darkness, and settled her robotic hand on her hip. Tilting her head down for a moment to gather herself again, Yang breathed in, silently, through her nose. She cleared her throat and hoped that her voice didn’t betray any of the emotions she’d vented moments ago.

 

As she lifted her head back up and flicked her lavender eyes up to meet the curious, concerned, slightly nervous and… tired golden-yellow irises of her black-haired partner. At first, Yang’s jaw dropped again, her eyes quivering from surprise – déjà vu- but then Yang cocked a mildly surprised eye-brow up, and (attempt to be seemingly natural) tried to give off the air of her normal calm and curious closed mouth.

 

 

“You know, if you keep popping up like this, one of these days I’m pretty sure you’re going to give me a heart attack.”


	2. … Will Always Bring Me Back To You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mainly Blake's POV on catching up to Yang, they talk, they start to heal - and then they can prepare for their next mission ahead.

Her ear flicked to the noise behind her, mind bleary from sleep, but now more alert and sensitive again to her environment. Keeping her breathing even, she waited for another noise.

 

 _Did they plan to come back at night?_ Seems foolish, since the police are on red alert and surveying in the skies overnight, in hopes of catching the stragglers.

 

The bed behind her creak. Once Blake realized where the noise had come from, she felt the silly relaxation and pace, content, come back to her mind. She was safe.

 

_Yang._

 

She was with her partner once more, and she was safe – especially since she was able to, catch Adam off guard, leaving the police to catch him.

 

Within minutes of hearing Yang, her partner had left the room.

 

Blake’s mind went from thinking Yang just needed something, to wanting to make sure she was okay. Her partner was strong, but she just… wanted to check in. Yang never normally, ever, got up in the middle of the night. Only times she was awake like this was back in Mt. Glenn, when she was worried about keeping everyone safe –

 

Oh.

 

Snapping her eyes open, Blake lifted the coves off herself, feeling the breeze of an open window. Her ear flicked in mild annoyance at the breeze and scowled at it before she looked around the room, locating her boots, white trench coat, and Gambol Shroud. She decided against her boots, opting to go for bare-foot, and tied her trench-coat around herself, almost too tightly. By habit, she hooked her weapon on her back and swiftly followed after her partner.

 

She snapped behind a corner she creaked on a wooden floor panel – not expected to make such a noise, as she observed her partner – who was now not moving and staring dagger eyes in her direction.

 

_Did she see me? Is she –_

 

Before she could panic-think more, Yang rolled her shoulders and chuckled at herself, combed a hand through her hair when she normally does stop ground herself, and Yang moved past one of the kitchens in the house and down some stairs.

 

Blake was eager to follow only to once again panic her partner at the stairs but disappeared as soon as she made a small creak in the wood, leaving nothing for yang to see.

 

Blake’s ears were up and alert, listening for Yang; eventually hearing her walk down the stairs and outside.

 

When it was clear Yang needed some time alone, Blake hesitated for a while against the wall, wanting to give her space for a little while before checking on her. 

————

“You know, it’s usually my job to sneak away at night to be alone with my feelings and sulk,” Blake joked to Yang, as she walked into the cool night air, joining her partner at the railing overlooking the mountainous valleys ahead.

 

Turning away and pouting, staring forward to blatantly avoid eye contact at being called out, Yang childishly crosses her arms over her chest and retorted, “I’m not sulking.”

 

“Of course not. You just came out here in the middle of the night to stare at the stars by yourself.“ Blake stops Yang before she speaks, “and you feeling the need to sneak out to do so is just sheer coincidence.”

 

“Look, thanks for checking up on me, but I’m fine.”

 

“Whatever it is that’s affecting you, I can handle it. Please talk to me.”

 

“What if I’m not ready yet?”

 

Blake opened her mouth to respond but closed it. She sighed inwards and nods. “Okay.”

 

“Okay?”

 

Yang gave a soft scoff as she looked at her partner. “Hey,” she said to her, voice calmer than it was earlier.

 

“Hey,” Blake replied, offering soft smile before revealing a more gentle but concerned, questioning look. “Are you… okay?” Blake asked tentatively. 

 

Yang sighed, looking down and back to the mountains. Blake moved a little closer to Yang, her left-hand mere centimeters from touching her partners’ yellow robotic limb. “I’ll be okay - just..” Yang paused before sighing again, looking at Blake in her eyes. “Just having trouble sleeping still from … from my nightmares,” she finished, breaking eye contact.

 

Blake asked her about them, what she’s been dealing with. Yang eventually shuffled from tense, depressed, too relaxed as she finally let out some of what she endured in the night. The entire time Blake listened, offering her apologies and that she’s going to be here as her partner for whatever she could do. Yang promised just talking about it was making her feel better.

 

The two catch up on what they’ve been up to. Yang on her tacking out an entire group of thugs to meet her mother, which didn’t shock blake until she mentioned the Raven part. The most interesting being that she did it to find Ruby, with Wiess in-tow on a motorcycle.

 

Blake talked about her parents. ’you have parents?!’ which Blake nudged her roughly, mentioning how they already met, along with Ghira’s surprisingly strong but soft hug he gave to Yang.

 

“You know, the stars really are lovely from up here,” Blake commented.

Yang smiles at her, really looking at her, before looking up. “Yeah, it sure is.”

 

“So..what made you want to come out here,” Blake asked. Wondering of all places, why she chose something like this. The possibilities were there - the cool air, nature, the quiet.

 

“For the stars, actually, since you mention it.”

 

This was not the answer Blake was expecting. “The stars?”

 

Yang smiled at her, before looking up and told her yes. She stepped away from the railing and asked Blake to follow her. Blake’s head tilted a little in puzzlement but followed her partner’s movements. Yang laid down on the dusty ground and Blake followed.

 

Yang pointed out the constellations and told her about the story of her mom and feeling alone at night.

 

“But there’s another reason for it,” Yang added.

 

Blake looked at her in the moonlight, waiting. They both looked back at the night sky.

 

“Sometimes… Sometimes, when I couldn’t sleep - I wish I could talk to you. Tell you what I was doing, how I felt. The good, the bad; how much I missed you; if you were okay; if you knew how much I and the rest of the team cared about you.”

 

Blakes' ears slanted a little at that; feeling a mix of guilt, and also of fondness that she was cared about at the same time.

 

“I would look at these stars when the feelings where tough to get through I’d just… I’d remember these stars, knowing you might see the ones im seeing, and … I would feel less alone. Like in some way,” Yang explained, sitting up a little, looking at her, whispering. “Like in some way I wasn’t alone, and that maybe, you would be looking at them too, and maybe could feel a little less alone as well.”

 

Yang looked away, a soft tinge of pink dusting her face.

 

“I know I was gone for a while but… Now you don’t have to anymore.” Blake promised, sitting up, placing her hand over Yang’s robotic limb. “I’m right here,” she grasped the hand,” and I'm not going anywhere.” She promised.

 

Yang looked at her, her eyes wanting to believe what they saw. Yang told her that as long as they have the stars, then so that they will have each other, no matter what happens.

 

As they stood up and hugged, Yang stretched and yawned. “I don't know about you but I am exhausted,” she said, sounding much more groggy and muffled. Blake smirked a bit and agreed they walked back into the house and walked up to their respective door, sleeping in their own beds, whispering good nights.

 

Blake closed her eyes, preparing herself for dreamless, on-alert-sleep, only she dreamed. A soft smile grew on her face, as her uncurious mind flooded her sleeping hours with golden suns and prism colored galaxy nights, giving not a feeling of solitude and being alone, but the exact opposite – she felt like she was surrounded with the love of being wanted, comforting her and warming her more than the red blanket had the past few nights have ever done. Like she had found her home with the help of a different guiding star, but only that one was a breathing, beautiful, golden soul with a heart of fire.

 

For the first time that night, Yang finally stopped having nightmares.

 

 

The sun started to rise, early morning light trickling into the mistral house. It became abuzz with noises and excitement and someone much older and exhausted-sounding tells everyone to quiet down. “It’s too early for this nonsense…” The older man’s voice grumbled, only to have a loud group of laughter in his response.

 

The young adults packed for their next step in saving their future - A train trip to Atlas was underway today, and nothing was going to stop them from achieving what they sought out to do.

 

… Hopefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This second half of the story was left unfished for maybe a year now. But thanks to my friend Sky, I was finally able to complete it.


End file.
